This Russian report seems to indicate that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 may require a persistent internet connection to play. Here is a rough machine translation of the answer to a question about DRM in GSC Game World's upcoming first-person shooter sequel: "Protection from piracy? Part of the content will be located on the server and downloaded as the game progresses. We need constant access to the Internet. Will finish the text information, code and maximum game. Software piracy hurts us to beat, we fight with him, but in moderation. If people can not buy a licensed version, it is to our advantage, so he bought a pirate, and then wanted to buy a license. In Ukraine, there are different products that people love so much that he buys a license in principle. We want to create just such a product." Thanks RPS via Kotaku Aus/GSC.

CJ_Parker wrote on Oct 8, 2011, 19:30:I for one wish them the best of luck in their endeavor to screw the thieving assholes of this planet big time. Always-on is no problem at all for the vast majority of serious, legit and honest PC gamers of this world.It's only a problem for the stealing scum who like to keep their gaming PC(s) offline "just in case" so no one can detect their multiple terabytes of stolen games. Or for the cheapskates who are pissing their pants in sheer angst of any new DRM scheme that might actually all but eliminate piracy or at least delay cracks substantially.

Good luck, GSC! You guys rock!

Actually none of my games are pirated. As a legitimate buying consumer I can tell you why always on DRM is a bad idea:

* Flakey internet connections. Yes, I know that in this day and age, most people ARE always on, but guess what? Internet connections go out on occasion. Sometimes for days at a time (in the case where my router blew up). Shouldn't I be able to play a single-player game that I paid for, even under these circumstances?

* Problems at DRM authenticator location. Even if your internet connection is fine, if the publisher (or whoever is in charge of running the DRM authentication) is having problems (or is under a DoS attack - both of which have happened) then guess what? You can't play your game.

* Lifecycle support. I sometimes like to play old games. I just discovered a ton of great Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 mods and am replaying it. Should you have to trust that in 10 years, if you feel like playing through a game like this that those DRM servers are still going to be up? Can you trust that the devs are going to do the right thing and strip out the always on DRM feature before that happens?

I don't have a problem with some form of DRM, but I do have a problem with always on.